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Inside the helmet: Michigan football must embrace reality vs. Penn State

(Editor’s note: Each week during the season, the Free Press will catch up with former Michigan center, and former Toledo graduate assistant, Jack Miller for insight from the perspective of a former player/coach)

Hope conquers all when spring football turns into summer, and then fall camp. The offense is going to hit on all cylinders. The pass game is going to hit big plays. Young receivers are going to shine. Athleticism is going to take over.

Indeed. Michigan's offense, through six games, is nowhere near what the team hoped it'd be at the halfway point of the 2017 season. The passing game is struggling, the team's already on its second quarterback and not much is working, outside of some bursts in the running game.

Fighting reality is counterproductive. Inside a locker room – and more importantly, inside coaching rooms – reality has to dictate how a team proceeds.

Miller says that has to be true for Michigan as it enters a battle at No. 2 Penn State on Saturday. It also has to be true every week for the rest of the season. There's no point in fighting it. U-M has its identity now. It's time to embrace it.

“It’s not what fans want to see, right? Fans want their team to be Alabama and go out every week and just spank an opponent and be on a different level the entire time. The reality is, though, there’s only one team in the country capable of that: Alabama,” Miller says. “So, reality is, you have a scrappy team. A team full of guys with loads and loads of potential and very little experience. It’s not all that unrealistic to think that if you’re going to win games (ugly).

"This defense is solid. They’re gritty. They’re tough. They’re well-coached and disciplined and they don’t miss many assignments. Because of that, I think they’ll always have a chance. So, really, what it’s going to come down to is whether or not the run game can be consistent enough. If it is, it’ll lighten it up for (the passing game). If (John O'Korn) can (make it work), then – because of your defense – you’re going to be in games.”

CLOSE

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media Oct. 16, 2017, leading into Penn State. By Nick Baumgardner, DFP.

Power drive: Much of this identity relies on the offensive line and the ground game, as Michigan showed some signs of life with its power scheme last week at Indiana.

U-M rushed for 271 yards on 44 carries and got the job done with powers, counters, isolations and a few zone plays mixed in. This happened against Indiana's adequate rush defense.

A week ago, most questioned Michigan's decision to get complicated. Now? Things appear to be a bit more simplistic.

“Power football, counters, let them load up the box and go man vs. man and it’s ‘let’s go,’" Miller said. “It wasn’t perfect all the time, but the game that (Karan) Higdon had, guys got great movement, you saw some double teams move to the next level, guys were able to wall off, create seams. It was good. And I think that’s what, overall, what (they) were hoping to see.”

Two questions remain: Can Michigan continue its running success when it plays Penn State on the road. And can O'Korn do enough in the passing game to make this whole thing work?

"I think he’s capable. But it has to be a mutual relationship, the more the run succeeds, the better he’ll have chances at making those shots count," Miller says. "Right now, it is John O’Korn’s team. I don’t think people want to make the same mistake of going down that road that we went down when Wilton wasn’t playing all that well in some people’s eyes of ‘why isn’t O’Korn in there?’ Then, suddenly, Wilton (Speight's) hurt, O’Korn comes in and then we see why (the depth chart was what it was).

"They have to establish the run. Last week was encouraging. But we'll see if the offense can build off that and continue it into this tough stretch here."

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 file photo, Penn State's Saquon Barkley (26) looks to stiff arm Pittsburgh's Avonte Maddox (14) during the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa. Penn State coach James Franklin sees the talent Northwestern has and the success the Wildcats have experienced under Pat Fitzgerald. Running back Saquon Barkley keeps padding his Heisman Trophy resume. (AP Photo/Chris Knight, File)(Photo: Chris Knight, AP)

Crank it up: Playing road games at Purdue and Indiana are fine.

But Happy Valley – at night – is a separate situation.

Miller played in Michigan's last "white out" night game at Penn State in 2013. That game lasted four overtimes, and is remembered for Penn State's fourth-quarter comeback. The crowd was raucous for 60 minutes-plus.

"It's loud. It's probably the loudest environment I ever played in. That or Ohio State. Their fans are relentless there, they love their football and they embrace that rowdy atmosphere. It lives up to the hype," he said. "It's a challenge for a young team, for sure. We had this circled at the beginning of the season as (a pivot game). For a young team, it could be a catalyst for something great.

"If you can go in there and get it done in that kind of environment, that's something that can spark a run. It really could. (But at the same time) if Michigan doesn't show up and perform, and because Penn State is really good, it could be embarrassing. ... We don't know (yet)."